Unprecedented deluge of unilateral legislation in two days: Just two of 30 bills challenged by opposition

ISLAMABAD: Of the 30 bills passed by the National Assembly in just two days -- setting an unprecedented record in hasty lawmaking -- only two pieces of legislation that comprehensively amend the Elections Act are being aggressively disputed by the opposition parties and are going to face roadblocks in the Senate.

The third bill, that gives the right of appeal to convicted Indian spy Commander Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, has also been called into question partially across the parliamentary spectrum.

“Come and sit with us and give us your input on the two bills that you disapprove of. We will set aside our wish list and you should put yours away for productive consultations,” Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan told The News when contacted. “We are open to discussion, but they have to make tangible, sensible contributions in support of their cause.”

He said none of the opposition parties raised even a slight objection to at least 27 bills during their passage in the National Assembly. “Therefore, the allegation of bulldozing these legislative items is misplaced.”

Babar Awan claimed that during the consideration of the bill relating to electoral reforms in the standing committee, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) representatives did not suggest even a single amendment, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) members boycotted the deliberations and a Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl MP gave her dissenting note.

However, former Speaker and senior PML-N leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq told The News that the government did not let the opposition debate the bills in the standing committee. “Even the dissenting notes given by the members of the JUI-F, Jamaat-e-Islami and PPP were ignored with the primary objective of bulldozing the bills in the committee and subsequently in the National Assembly. The government side had announced to take several clauses of the controversial bills as read without any discussion. This is not a parliamentary norm or tradition as the debate on every clause has to be held threadbare.”

He said his view has been endorsed by two senior officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), who too were not allowed to give their opinion in the standing committee. “If the government feels that there are several non-controversial bills,which should be passed without any hassle, it has to talk to the opposition.”

Ayaz Sadiq added that the problem with the government is that it always abhors consultations on any legislation. “During our government, we would mostly accept 90pc of the amendments made by the opposition, which used to result in smooth law-making,” he said and described Babar Awan’s offer for consultations as nothing but paying lip service to any possible talks. “The government’s policy is clear: it doesn’t want consensus on legislation.”

Since no dialogue had been held between the government and opposition nor had any negotiations been planned in view of the rigid stands of the two sides, the ruling coalition had decided to push its heavy legislative agenda through the National Assembly on the force of its majority and passed a record number of bills in only two days.

Speaker Asad Qaiser has now constituted a committee to take into consideration all these bills, which were hastily passed in the National Assembly in only two days.

A total of 21 bills were approved on June 10 while nine bills were cleared on June 7 by the National Assembly.

The two proposed laws that the opposition aggressively rejects introduce dozens of amendments in the Elections Act that was unanimously passed in 2017 during the PML-N government.

The government believes that the opposition will not stand against the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Bill, 2021, which provides the right of appeal to Kulbhushan Jadhav. However, the opposition had created a rumpus when the bill had been taken up by the National Assembly.

A gist of the topics and amendments made in the remaining bills show that they are hardly politically significant and that is why it is felt that they will be cleared even by the Senate without much ado if the opposition did not oppose them.

At least five bills introduce almost similar minor changes in the existing laws, giving the power of the central government to the “appropriate authorities” of the concerned departments for early disposal of “routine” matters so that the federal cabinet had not to be involved in giving approval of each and every measure. It has been stated that the amendments will help avoid unnecessary delays and will speed up decision making. It was said that the amendments would be helpful in curtailing the number of cases of a trivial nature being taken up by the federal cabinet and also rationalize the authorities for various functions in these departments in the light of prevailing rules, regulations and official instructions. While making these amendments, reliance was also placed on certain judgments of superior courts.

They include The Port Qasim Authority (Amendment) Bill, The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (Amendment) Bill, The Maritime Security Agency (Amendment) Bill, The Gwadar Port Authority (Amendment) Bill and The Pakistan Academy of Letters (Amendment) Bill, which have been cleared by the National Assembly.

Two proposed pieces of legislation - The Muslim Family Laws (Amendment) Bill (Section 4) and The Muslim Family Laws (Amendment) Bill (Section 7) – allow an issueless widow belonging to the Fiqh-e-Jafriya to claim her share from the inheritance of her deceased husband, and permits the followers of this sect to settle the matters of divorce according to their interpretation.

The COVID-19 (Prevention of Hoarding) Bill provides for the prevention of the hoarding of 32 specified articles in an emergent situation resulting from the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

It has been claimed that the Financial Institutions (Secured Transactions) (Amendment) Bill will bring the existing legal framework in line with international best practices for secured transaction laws besides ensuring efficient functioning of the Secured Transactions Registry.

The Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill brings about changes in the law for clarity and precision in market operation, uniform tariff, timely submissions and determination of quarterly and annual tariffs.

The Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Bill and the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill deal with the same grave offence. The first bill is meant to effectively eradicate these offences, saying that there is dire need for enactment of a special law providing for establishment of special courts, creation of anti-rape crisis cells in public hospitals to ensure prompt registration of FIR and medical examination, forensic analysis etc; use of modern devices during investigation and trial; legal assistance to the victims on pro bono basis; enlistment of independent support advisers; to provide support to the victims; appointment of special prosecutor for special courts; probe by joint investigation teams headed by district police officers; constitution of a special committee on pro bono basis to ensure overall implementation of the law; power to make rules for providing, medico legal examination and investigation and prosecution guidelines, premised upon the latest modern techniques and devices; maintaining the data of sex offenders through the National Database & Registration Authority (Nadra); a public reporting mechanism since the entire nation has been called upon to fight the menace of sexual offences against women and children; and punishment for false investigation or complaint.

The second bill intends to provide for efficacious justice to victims of rape by conducting gender sensitive investigation and prosecution in special court, providing strict punishment to the offenders by substituting the existing section 375 of the Pakistan Penal Code so as to provide for new definition of rape which would extend to female transgender and male victim5 and also to introduce the offence of gang rape and the concept of chemical castration in respect of repeating offenders.

The Mutual Legal Assistance [MLA] (Criminal Matters) (Amendment) Bill says since lack of uniformity in law and weak coordination mechanism between countries affects combating of crimes across borders in order to overcome these challenges, essential legal cover was required. International cooperation in criminal matters through MLA and extradition is intended to bridge existing gaps in respective countries toward effective law enforcement. The requested state will provide mutual legal support to the requesting state by executing necessary actions on its territory in any specific criminal case warranting shared assistance.

The Federal Medical Teaching Institutes Bill says the medical teaching institutions will be body corporate, will undertake all functions required for providing health facilities and healthcare services to the people and to provide medical education, training and research and to perform such other functions as are assigned to it by the government from time to time.

The National Institute of Health [NIH] (Re-organization) Bill aims to reorganize the NIH for making it in a better position for carrying out research and working for prevention of the spread of infectious diseases in Pakistan. NIH will frame policies for financial and administrative management, and make regulations and prescribe functions for all of its subordinate institutions.

The State Bank of Pakistan Banking Services Corporation (Amendment) Bill is meant to optimize its operation efficiency thereby bringing it in conformity with the emerging operational needs.

The Companies (Amendment) Act says the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in consultation with all major stakeholders and in line with international best practices proposed various amendments in this law which mainly relates to protection of minority investors, ease of doing business in Pakistan, to introduce an enabling regulatory framework to facilitate startups for the promotion of businesses relating to innovation and technology and to improve overall business climate in the country and to remove other anomalies/ambiguities in the company act.

It is claimed that The Corporate Restructuring Companies [CRCs] (Amendment) Bill will, considering the government's objective of reviving the distressed economic assets of the country, will enable the CRCs to reach a compromise with the distressed entities promptly.

The nine bills passed on June 7 included Hyderabad Institute for Technical and Management Sciences Act, Privatization Commission (Amendment) Bill; Enforcement of Women's Property Rights (Amendment) Bill; Loans for Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Purposes (Amendment) Bill; National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021; National College of Arts Institute Bill; Protection of Communal Properties of Minorities (Amendment) Bill; Islamabad Capital Territory Charities Registration, Regulation and Facilitation Bill; and Global Change Impact Studies Centre (Amendment) Bill.